Idle, Dreary Days
by Merewiowing
Summary: Lucina is pessimistic and regretful. Cynthia tries to help. [TFP timeline, slight AU.]


Not all of Ylisstol has been razed to the ground, thankfully. Some buildings are still standing, and they provide decent enough cover. They've found themselves choosing one for the night – a house that, given its large size, must have belonged to a noble or wealthy family. Today it's just a shell covered in soot, but it has walls and a ceiling. That's more than what could be said about many places they've camped in before.

Lucina has been on the edge the whole day. She's been trying not to show it, but she forgot just how well her companions know her. In tight groups like theirs, you become attuned to the slightest movement of your leader's eyelid. Lucina had been doing more than just blinking – she had been uncharacteristically avoidant, and finally excused herself from the group and left the building to sit in the sandy area that, probably, used to be a family garden.

At least that's what Cynthia heard from Brady when she got back to the house. She had left earlier in search of something resembling food, or at least well that hadn't dried up completely. She returned with a few miserable crabapples and half a flagon of muddy water. Hardly sufficient, but better than chewing on tree bark.

She had planned to deliver all this directly to her sister, which is why Lucina's absence struck her. After hearing Brady's explanation and trusting him with the fruits and water, Cynthia left to find Lucina.

* * *

She found her sitting on a pile of stones (or bricks, it's hard to tell), turned away from the back door. When Cynthia approached her, she noticed Lucina was holding a stick and drawing idle shapes in the sound. Lines, swirls. Maybe it was helping her be calm.

After eyeing the pile to find a spot on the pile that didn't look as dreadfully uncomfortable as everything around it, Cynthia sat down next to her sister.

"Everything okay, Luce?" she asked.

"I'm alright, Cynthia," Lucina replied without looking up. Cynthia did everything in her power not to roll her eyes.

"Sis, we both know I can tell you're lying. You bite down on your lip, remember?" Cynthia said, leaning closer to Lucina's face and pointedly looking at her mouth.

Lucina was, in fact, biting her lip. Hearing Cynthia's words, she blinked. For a fleeting second, the tips of her lips curled up slightly. Then they fell back down, and Lucina's face returned to being a stoic mask.

"Our companions are likely dead, Cynthia. Surely you're worried about them, too."

Truth be told, this idea hadn't entered Cynthia's mind before.

"I really don't think they are, sis. You really shouldn't worry this much."

"Cynthia, they should have gotten back to Ylisstol two days ago." Lucina had stopped drawing now. The stick in her hand is shaking a little, its tip jumping up and down from the ground.

"Maybe they're just held up by something! Like an unexpected band of Risen. But I'm sure they'll be defeated in style—"

The stick snapped in Lucina's hand. "I'm quite aware that there are Risen prowling around the country, Cynthia. We accounted for that during planning. Severa and the others should still have gotten here by now."

Cynthia, despite herself, had to agree with her sister. The way they had split up to find the gems was risky, but between Lucina, Laurent, Kjelle and many sleepless nights, the plan was as infallible as it could have been.

Lucina threw the broken-off end of her stick behind her, and leaned forward so she could return to drawing. Cynthia had wondered if there was any hidden pattern to it before, but now she saw Lucina draw over earlier shapes. Maybe there really wasn't anything to it.

Everything around them was silent. Cynthia couldn't hear any sounds coming from the house, and the city around them was dry and dead. She kicked a stone; the sound it made when it hit a larger stone further away reverberated in the air.

Then a thought struck her. "Sis, I'm sure Severa is okay." Lucina didn't react. "I can just see her right now, slicing a Risen apart and complaining about how much of a _bother_ these monsters they are." Cynthia's impression of Severa wasn't the best one, but this time she succeeded in getting her sister's attention.

"I'm not just worried about Severa, Cynthia. I'm worried about Kjelle, Nah and Noire, too." Lucina paused. "Equally."

Cynthia didn't stop herself from rolling her eyes this time.

"There's no shame in admitting you're worried about someone you love, Luce. All great heroes do that," she said. "I'm sure even the Hero King was anxious when his fiancée fought in his battles."

Lucina didn't argue with that, at least. "I wish I had gone with them, Cynthia. We shouldn't have agreed to split up at all. It was too risky all along."

They both fell silent again. Cynthia wasn't sure how to react to Lucina admitting so openly that she had made a mistake. (She still thought their friends would turn up alright, but evidently there was no way to convince her sister of that.) Though Lucina didn't manifest it as openly as Cynthia did, she was usually more of an optimist.

"You know, Lucina," she began, "even if that's true, there's nothing we can do about that anymore. It's not like we can change the past itself."

"If that was possible, I would do that in a heartbeat," Lucina interjected.

"Sis, let me finish! What I mean is, I know waiting idly like that is awful, but you're not going to help anyone by sitting here and worrying. Severa would hate to see you like that."

Lucina's hand stilled.

"And you're making everyone else here worry a lot," Cynthia continued. "We're not sure of anything yet, so you, above everyone else, should keep smiling. It would be more encouraging to everyone."

Lucina didn't reply immediately. When she spoke up, there was a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I think you've been spending too much time with Inigo, Cynthia."

"Even Inigo has the right idea sometimes," Cynthia huffed.

And then Lucina smiled. Just a small bit; someone who didn't know her well would not have noticed. Cynthia knew her sister better than anyone, though.

"That's the spirit, Luce!" She moved closer to Lucina, rough stones cutting into her thighs be damned, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

* * *

Their companions came back a few hours later, when it was already dark.

Lucina and Owain had been keeping watch, so they were the first to see them. Afterwards, Owain ran around waking people up – including Cynthia. At first she thought she was dreaming, but seeing everyone slowly regain consciousness assured her that this was, in fact, real.

She scrambled up and ran to the door as fast as she could. When she arrived and saw her friends – Kjelle slowly taking off her armour, Noire sitting down and taking small bites of their last crabapple in between answering Owain's questions, Nah unbraiding her hair and running her fingers through it – she felt herself choke up. As certain as she had been she would see all of them again, it was an indescribable relief.

She approached Noire, intending to ask her if she needed something to drink as well, but as she opened her mouth, a different thought struck her.

"Where's Severa?" she asked, chill running down her spine.

Noire had her mouth full, so instead of replying, she motioned to the side with her free hand. Cynthia looked where she was pointing, further away from the entrance, and saw – Ah.

Severa was sitting against the wall, and in front of her was Lucina, kneeling. They were holding hands. From where she was standing, Cynthia could see that Severa's lips were moving, but she could not make out the words. She kept looking as Severa stopped talking, but the angle didn't allow her to see if Lucina replied anything.

She could, however, see Lucina moving closer and touching her forehead to Severa's.

Cynthia turned back to Noire, and said, "I think there were more trees around the one I picked these apples from. Want to tag along when I go back there tomorrow? You could tell me all about your adventures then!"

* * *

Cynthia had almost fallen asleep again when she heard Lucina lay down next to her.

"See, sis? I told you everyone come back", she said, not trying to conceal how proud she was to be right.

"You did. I'm sorry I doubted you," Lucina replied, after turning to lie on her side so that she could face Cynthia. "They've brought Gules and Azure with them, too. Our plan was a complete success."

"Of course it was." Cynthia had never doubted that. "You know, the legend goes than when Princess Caeda arrived to see the Hero King on the battlefield, he ran straight to her, and after she dismounted her pegasus, he swept her off her feet and—"

"Go to sleep, Cynthia," Lucina said, with just a hint of exasperation in her voice. "We really must rest." She rolled back onto her back. "I think we'll take a day to tend to their injuries and plan, and the day after tomorrow we make our move."

The reality of what everyone's return with the gemstones means hadn't hit Cynthia yet. She felt certain they would triumph – as good always does – but the idea of the final battle being in such immediate future was frightening.

She was also more than a little excited, though. In three days they could wake up in a new world.

Lucina's voice brought her back to earth. She had rolled to her side again, but her eyes weren't looking at her sister. "But if you really must know, Cynthia," she hesitated, "I did kiss Severa. Before you arrived."

Cynthia couldn't see in the dark, but she was certain that Lucina was very red right then. "That's my Luce," she said, grinning.

"Please go to sleep, Cynthia."

* * *

Decided to repost at least some of my fic on here, too. This one was written during 2015's femslash february, for a "presumed dead" prompt. I hope you enjoyed it!


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